First EVER grow... Lowrider, lights?

Hey guys,

this is my first post and I've been on the forum for a few months doing research. I'm sorry for my stupid questions, but how long do I leave the light on when the plant grows? The seed popped and I don't know what to do.

I have it growing outside (Winter/Cali) not sure if thats a good thing. Its usually around 60 degrees or a little warmer with not too much sun.

What do I do?

Do I leave the plant indoors and put lights on it or should I leave it outside? Do I leave the light on 24 hours a day until it does something? I'm rediculously a newbie and I thank anybody for help!

this is my first post and I've been on the forum for a few months doing research. I'm sorry for my stupid questions, but how long do I leave the light on when the plant grows? The seed popped and I don't know what to do.

I have it growing outside (Winter/Cali) not sure if thats a good thing. Its usually around 60 degrees or a little warmer with not too much sun.

What do I do?

Do I leave the plant indoors and put lights on it or should I leave it outside? Do I leave the light on 24 hours a day until it does something? I'm rediculously a newbie and I thank anybody for help!

Not a good idea to bring a plant indoors, you might be bringing pests inside. If you want to grow indoors, you'll have to make an investment to get lights and ventilation, maybe odor control also. You'll also need to get some kind of nutrients for it regardless of outdoors or indoors.

Normal plants will flower with 12 hours darkness. Since it's a lowrider that means it's an autoflowering plant. They will start to flower with any lighting schedule. As to the best lighting schedule (on/off 24/0, 18/6, 12/12), I can't really comment. You might want to do a google search or look at other people's logs. Search for lowrider, lowryder, autoflower, AF, etc..

All the information you need is here, just need to look for it. At the top of this section are Sticky's that will get you started. The other sections also have Sticky's which have valuable knowledge, like growroom setup, indoor growing, indoor lighting, outdoor growing, etc.. The FAQ's will also answer many questions. This is also a good guide for anything you want to know: Cannabis FAQs / FAQ , Recipes, Medical Marijuana

I did 24/0 for lighting on my autoflowers andd it worked just fine, they were done at about 8 weeks from seed. In just about 3 weeks from sprouting it will show it's preflowers, stretch, & start budding automatically so it's done a few weeks after that.

Not a good idea to bring a plant indoors, you might be bringing pests inside. If you want to grow indoors, you'll have to make an investment to get lights and ventilation, maybe odor control also. You'll also need to get some kind of nutrients for it regardless of outdoors or indoors.

Normal plants will flower with 12 hours darkness. Since it's a lowrider that means it's an autoflowering plant. They will start to flower with any lighting schedule. As to the best lighting schedule (on/off 24/0, 18/6, 12/12), I can't really comment. You might want to do a google search or look at other people's logs. Search for lowrider, lowryder, autoflower, AF, etc..

All the information you need is here, just need to look for it. At the top of this section are Sticky's that will get you started. The other sections also have Sticky's which have valuable knowledge, like growroom setup, indoor growing, indoor lighting, outdoor growing, etc.. The FAQ's will also answer many questions. This is also a good guide for anything you want to know: Cannabis FAQs / FAQ , Recipes, Medical Marijuana

Thanks so much for the feedback. I really appreciate the comments. I took a picture tonight and this is what it looks like. I really might have jumped the gun on this one.

In regards to nutrients, do you have any recommendations?

Since it popped, I have not changed the soil or anything. I just added water every 2 days and get a little run off. The leaves are green and some of them have been folding upwards towards the light. I think I read somewhere on here I needed to move the light away so now its only around 4" away from the plant.

I did 24/0 for lighting on my autoflowers andd it worked just fine, they were done at about 8 weeks from seed. In just about 3 weeks from sprouting it will show it's preflowers, stretch, & start budding automatically so it's done a few weeks after that.

Hi Redtails,

I uploaded a picture, can you please see it? Do these look ok after a few weeks? I have one 60wCFL bulb on the plant right now, just one, and I put aluminum foil around the pot.

Should I change the soil at all? I have never taken the plants out of the pot before so I'm not sure what to really do? Can I keep the plant in the pot for 8 weeks or do I need to change something? Thanks again

Yeah your plant looks good so far. The plant looks like you could finish it in that pot, or you could transplant next time the soil dries out and probably get a little more out of your plant.

Thanks redtails!

I lost confidence because I felt I wasn't really doing the right things on this grow. I just water the plants and I don't even know when to give nutrients to the plant. I took more pictures today. Unfortunately, I don't remember the exact day I planted the seed because it didn't come out for almost a week and gave up on it. I would think it would be around the 21st day.

I took some pictures tonight of the "setup". Its on the balcony and I have it hidden in the corner so there isn't too much lighting. I don't have any fans on it but the air temps are pretty cool. Some of the leaves started curling upwards a little bit. Not too sure whats going on there...

I read about transferring pots because it allows the roots to grow more since the current soil might get hard in spots where the roots cannot go into? Would I need to change any soil or anything or can I literally just give it water and nutrients from here?

Also, since its autoflowering, would I need absolute darkness when flowering? Can I still have the same setup I have now or would it need to be enclosed or something? Thanks so much for the help.

You don't need any darkness at all with autoflowers, that's the nice thing. Any day now you should see preflowers (20 days from sprout for mine) and then it will start to stretch and begin flowering.

You should check out Rusty's Bansai Re-Vegging for some ideas on how to transplant. Looking at these new pics, you can keep it the way it is, but put some more soil in next time or start smaller and do a transplant or two to end up in that pot, the roots grow a lot, especially downward.

Oh, & I think when the leaves do that they are just asking for humidity, like reaching towards the clouds and making a cup to catch the rain...I don't really know, but it seemed to work for me. Really study your plants and how they grow and you will learn to read their "expressions"

You don't need any darkness at all with autoflowers, that's the nice thing. Any day now you should see preflowers (20 days from sprout for mine) and then it will start to stretch and begin flowering.

You should check out Rusty's Bansai Re-Vegging for some ideas on how to transplant. Looking at these new pics, you can keep it the way it is, but put some more soil in next time or start smaller and do a transplant or two to end up in that pot, the roots grow a lot, especially downward.

Oh, & I think when the leaves do that they are just asking for humidity, like reaching towards the clouds and making a cup to catch the rain...I don't really know, but it seemed to work for me. Really study your plants and how they grow and you will learn to read their "expressions"

Thanks again.

In regards to the lighting, should I place the lights higher above the plant for it to stretch? I have them about 6-8" away from the plant now...

I took some more pictures today as well. I was wondering when I should start feeding it nutrients? Any recommendations for what I should buy at Lowes and how to feed?

Also, should I add more soil to the bottom or get a bigger pot? How do I know if the plant is too big for the pot?

so the plant has started to flower, there are (pistols) coming out in a few different spots. Here's my prob.

Since I got the seed, I've been giving it tap water. Just tap, nothing else. Now that its flowering, should I turn the light off or change the schedule? (currently 24/0). Also I have it in a box, with the light above the plant, about 6-8" away, with no air circulation.

Any recommendation on where I should go from here? PLANT Is flowering now and I haven't given it anything but tap water. Its also still in the same pot I've been growing it since seedling. Thanks so much guys, I'm hoping the first one is something smokable but I'm not going to keep my hopes too high in case I do something wrong.

Maybe I missed it, but what kind of lights are you using? If they are low wattage (20-40w) CFL's, they should be 1-3 inches from the plant, or as close as you can get them without burning the leaves. A fan blowing on the plant will help this also.

What size container is that (how much soil)? And what kind of soil (brand, is it pre-fertilized)?

As for giving nutrients, this depends on your soil. If you are using Miracle Grow, you won't need nutrients for about a month. As long as they are green and look healthy, they don't need nutrients. From the pics it looks like you'll need a larger container pretty soon, and when you do re-pot (with MG for example), you can go another 3-4 weeks without nutrients.

Not really sure which pot size is best at this point, but check out some other grow logs and see what other people have successfully used.

Once those nutrients run out, however, your best option is to get nutrients made specifically for growing cannabis in soil (Fox Farm, Canna). You can get away with other types, but the results are usually not as good. If you go with MG nutrients, find out the NPK numbers on cannabis specific flowering nutrients, and try to match them (more N for veg; Less N and more P and K for flowering- which is what you want since you are flowering).

I don't think changing the light schedule matters at this point. It's an autoflower, it will produce flowers under any light schedule, but I don't know which schedule is the best. I'm sure there is some information out there about the best schedule, but until you find it, just leave things as they are.

Maybe I missed it, but what kind of lights are you using? If they are low wattage (20-40w) CFL's, they should be 1-3 inches from the plant, or as close as you can get them without burning the leaves. A fan blowing on the plant will help this also.

What size container is that (how much soil)? And what kind of soil (brand, is it pre-fertilized)?

As for giving nutrients, this depends on your soil. If you are using Miracle Grow, you won't need nutrients for about a month. As long as they are green and look healthy, they don't need nutrients. From the pics it looks like you'll need a larger container pretty soon, and when you do re-pot (with MG for example), you can go another 3-4 weeks without nutrients.

Not really sure which pot size is best at this point, but check out some other grow logs and see what other people have successfully used.

Once those nutrients run out, however, your best option is to get nutrients made specifically for growing cannabis in soil (Fox Farm, Canna). You can get away with other types, but the results are usually not as good. If you go with MG nutrients, find out the NPK numbers on cannabis specific flowering nutrients, and try to match them (more N for veg; Less N and more P and K for flowering- which is what you want since you are flowering).

I don't think changing the light schedule matters at this point. It's an autoflower, it will produce flowers under any light schedule, but I don't know which schedule is the best. I'm sure there is some information out there about the best schedule, but until you find it, just leave things as they are.

Hey Bigtopfinns!

Thanks for posting again! I have 2 60w CFL's on a Y connector. I have the lights about 4" from the top of the plant. I have the plant in a 24 x 12 x 12 box. As you can see in the pictures, I don't have ventiliation, just whatever leaks through the openings. I really should invest in a fan but I don't have one yet...

I purchased some miracle grow for flowers today. I mixed some at the bottom of the same pot and added the plant to it. The soil was very moist when I took the plant out. The soil wasn't really sticking to the plant too well, it was breaking off on the sides. Is this a bad thing?

Also, the lowryder is only about 8-10" tall. I'm not sure if it should be taller? Its actually starting to flower now since there are pistils in many of the spots! I counted at least 10 different openings where pistils are coming out. Thats getting me pretty excited! I asked Lowes about "Foxfarms" but they had no idea what I was talking about. I purchased some Miracle Grow Bloom Booster but haven't added it yet. All the leaves are green and there is now browning on the plant. Hope it stays that way.

Some of the edges of the leaves point up while some of the other edges point down. Is that tell me something? Thanks again for all your input!

I'm guessing you meant to say it's green and no browning, which is what it looks like.

The height will stay pretty short compared to regular cannabis plants, which can be good if you have space limitations, but bad in terms of yield.

Just keep up what you're doing, seems to be working. Results can be improved with more lighting (which require more ventilation to keeps temps in range), but for such a small plant you can probably get something worthwhile with what you have now.

i wish i had someone local thats into autoflower stains. i got ahold of two bluberry kush babys a couple of weeks ago , and im assuming they are autoflowering, as ive got them under 24 hour 400w MH , and when i went in t check them this evening, fund they have flower pistles on them! ..UNLESS they were taken from a 12/12 female before she started flowering, and then its entirely possible that they had just enough hormone in them that when they got completely over transplant shock they started to flower....WHO KNOWS!

not into autoflower strains myself, i prefer to have total control over what my girls are doing......ALTHOUGH bluberrys pretty damn tasty!

anyone know anything about U2 kush?..lineage is supposed to be hindu kushXlowryder, BUT if it is a lowryder cross, shouldnt it ALSO autoflower?

It may be just showing maturity with the pistils. A cross with an auto can go either way, the auto genetics are basically inbred until most if not all will flower automatically so when crossed with a normal strain it dilutes the auto genes...

I'm guessing you meant to say it's green and no browning, which is what it looks like.

The height will stay pretty short compared to regular cannabis plants, which can be good if you have space limitations, but bad in terms of yield.

Just keep up what you're doing, seems to be working. Results can be improved with more lighting (which require more ventilation to keeps temps in range), but for such a small plant you can probably get something worthwhile with what you have now.

Thank you! sorry, meant to say, no browning, which I am very happy about! I took some good pictures of the pistils today, I will upload them later. They're sprouting in quite a few places. I was wondering if I can cut sme of the leaves to give more light to that area? Don't know if that would help yield more since some of the bigger leaves at the top are taking a lot of the light.

I started giving the plant Miracle grow bloom booster for flowers. Is this ok? I'm not too certain what to do in regards to watering. I water the plant every 2 days but have never drained any water. I have also turned the light off for 4 hours a day at random times. Would this be ok? Sometimes it may be 5 hrs. I'm not sure if changing the schedule this late can cause problems? I hope my next one can be double size if I do things right

It may be just showing maturity with the pistils. A cross with an auto can go either way, the auto genetics are basically inbred until most if not all will flower automatically so when crossed with a normal strain it dilutes the auto genes...

Hi Redtails,

What does that mean to just show maturity? Does it mean it has a possibility of not budding? How do I know if this is crossed with a normal strand? Are there certain things to look for on the plant?

Compared to what I'm smoking now, (Sour D, Cheese, Cheese Supreme - extremely good by the way!) how strong can this possibly be? Hoping its something decent...

Also, when do I know when the plant is done (ready to smoke)? I have seen pictures of people putting the plant on dryer hangers. Am I going to have to hang it somewhere? Thanks for all the feedback!

It's like puberty really, the plant usually shows the preflowers at a certain age just like men get facial hair & women get breasts. It's just signalling to the outside world that it's come of age and is ready to breed.

That part about crossing to a normal strain was more directed at Shasta, as long as you got the seeds from the breeder or an authorized reseller then it should be legit as an auto.

As for strength, I've never tried Lowrider but it seems very similar to the auto I grew out. Mine was pretty potent, small yield but strong smoke. I've heard a lot about how ruderalis is crap, and how the ruderalis in the autoflowers makes them crap. True it's not as strong as some of the other "normal" varieties, but it can still be pretty good IMHO. Autoflowers are primarily geared towards people with not much space or growing talent from what I've seen, not necessarily for heavy smokers or conniseurs.

It's like puberty really, the plant usually shows the preflowers at a certain age just like men get facial hair & women get breasts. It's just signalling to the outside world that it's come of age and is ready to breed.

That part about crossing to a normal strain was more directed at Shasta, as long as you got the seeds from the breeder or an authorized reseller then it should be legit as an auto.

As for strength, I've never tried Lowrider but it seems very similar to the auto I grew out. Mine was pretty potent, small yield but strong smoke. I've heard a lot about how ruderalis is crap, and how the ruderalis in the autoflowers makes them crap. True it's not as strong as some of the other "normal" varieties, but it can still be pretty good IMHO. Autoflowers are primarily geared towards people with not much space or growing talent from what I've seen, not necessarily for heavy smokers or conniseurs.

Thank you!

I took some high res pictures today. I wanted to ask if I can trim any of the leaves or if the plant would die if I did this? I would like to trim away leaves that are covering the lower part of the plant so I can give it more light. Is this possible? Also, I'm giving the plant Miracle Grow Bloom Booster now, wondering if anybody else has done this?

Also, just by looking at the plants, anybody have an idea when they will be completed? I have no idea what to do when they're ready as is!

sorry for not updating sooner. Since the last time, I haven't changed a thing. Watering schedule, left the lights on 24/7 still and the plant has a lot of pistils and clear sticky stuff on the leaves. I am not sure when to harvest/how to harvest but I read I need a 30X zoom magnifying glass to see if there is clouding...

I touched the leaves and they smell awesome! It doesn't smell on my balcony either, probably because I don't have a fan setup? I really can't wait to try this out!